Reviews

The Assassins of Thasalon by Lois McMaster Bujold

ladyethyme's review against another edition

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2.0

Unfortunately, I was looking much forward to a longer Penric novel, as the proceeding books were mostly short novella. However, what I was met with was a regurgitation for about 3/4 of the book of information that readers would already know.
The author tends to do this in every book, assuming that the reader had not read any previous books in the series, something that I find rather odd, and in my opinion is more of a way to fill pages hastily then actually have to do any plot or character development.
The plot to this novel was also incredibly straightforward, when there was such potential for twisting political intrigue she spent those pages instead going over the abilities of a sorcerer and demon, in the mode of instructing a new sorcerer.
This for me was incredibly boring, and I skipped probably at least half of the book because of this.
Another thing I find rather irritating is Tannar being a extremely intelligent and capable young woman, as apparently only good for giving birth to babies… It is remarked previously in another novel that she had better start making babies, because otherwise she might become a pirate queen.
What I read this as was "she might actually do something interesting with her life". How many great women scientists, artists, have we lost to childcare through the centuries? If Jane Austen had been giving birth to child after child, we would never have any of her great works.
After this annoyance, she marries a man that she barely knows, rather than the one that she is actually in love with. I find it very disappointing that she did not recognize her love of the albino, and marry him anyway, despite prudence or cultural expectations, which would have been far more interesting. Instead, we get the expected and boring outcome… Which unfortunately this entire novel seems to revolve around.

The worst part, in my opinion, is that I know this author is capable of so much more.
Although she is often hit or miss for me, her turn of phrase, sense of humor, and insight has often struck me as incredibly profound and her ability to describe vividly just about anything, held me spellbound throughout her Miles Vorkosigan novels.
At least most of them… Until she decides to marry him off to a completely boring gardener for no apparent reason… Again, that is the hit or miss I am talking about.

amlibera's review against another edition

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5.0

I always forget in between, how very much I enjoy reading Lois McMaster Bujold. I have an especial fondness both for the Five Gods world and Penric himself - a fantasy Lord Peter Wimsey with a complex identity. A slightly longer Penric and Desdemona is a particularly welcome gift.

klmoran's review against another edition

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5.0

Love Pen and Des

These books are a treat! I really enjoy them and I’m sad when they are over. Pen is in fine form in this book.



auora1484's review

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adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

mary_soon_lee's review against another edition

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4.0

This is the tenth installment in Bujold's wonderful Penric-and-Desdemona series and the first full-length novel (the first nine installments being novellas). I enjoyed it considerably, if a little less than usual by the high standards of the series. Penric and Desdemona remain wonderful. Of the supporting cast this time, I especially liked Iroki.

The plot was fairly intricate, with many pieces to describe and many steps along the way for Penric, some of them not particularly compelling to me. Nonetheless, this was still a pleasure, just a lesser pleasure. There were several standout moments, two of my favorites being
SpoilerIroki talking about his bare-pole fishing days and, Iroki again, talking about the whales
.

3.5 out of 5 wroth stars.

About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).

xjennoe's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

lynnr's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

unofficialcate's review

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

jonathanpalfrey's review against another edition

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4.0

After a series of novellas, this is the first novel-length Penric story, and no-one who’s read this far in the series should need any persuading to buy it.

However, I wouldn’t say that this is significantly different in nature from the other Penric stories: it’s just longer, as this story didn’t happen to fit into a novella.

As usual, the author finds something new to tell us about sorcery, and indeed about theology; and we meet characters old and new. It’s good to meet again the Xarre family from [b:The Prisoner of Limnos|36440420|The Prisoner of Limnos (Penric and Desdemona, #6)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508638041l/36440420._SY75_.jpg|58141963], which remains my favourite Penric story so far. The new characters include a fisherman saint, a novice sorceress, and a sorcerer-villain.

Rather amusingly, Penric here invents and practises his own equivalent of the Vulcan Nerve Pinch, to render people temporarily unconscious.

This novel is a good story with plenty of interesting details, and the extra length makes it even more rereadable than usual. It also seems to imply that the series isn’t close to finishing, which is reassuring: it can run on indefinitely, as far as I’m concerned.

It’s hard to imagine how it would feel to read this one as a standalone novel, without having read the preceding novellas in the series. I suppose it could be done, but you’d be missing a lot of background information. In particular, [b:Penric's Demon|25791216|Penric’s Demon (Penric and Desdemona, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436108514l/25791216._SX50_.jpg|45642232] introduces us to Penric aged 19, his demon, and the World of the Five Gods in general; [b:Penric’s Mission|32858701|Penric’s Mission (Penric and Desdemona, #3)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1478098172l/32858701._SX50_.jpg|53462520] introduces us to Adelis, Nikys, and the country of Cedonia; [b:Mira's Last Dance|34348998|Mira’s Last Dance (Penric and Desdemona, #4)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1487582553l/34348998._SY75_.jpg|55425075] and [b:The Prisoner of Limnos|36440420|The Prisoner of Limnos (Penric and Desdemona, #6)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508638041l/36440420._SY75_.jpg|58141963] explain how Penric comes to be based in Vilnoc (in the country of Orbas); and [b:The Prisoner of Limnos|36440420|The Prisoner of Limnos (Penric and Desdemona, #6)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508638041l/36440420._SY75_.jpg|58141963] introduces us to the Xarre family. The other novellas are worth reading but less relevant to this novel.

dagsywagsy43's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5